Who the hell is Rodak?
Face it, that’s what most
record execs would say. Worse still, that’s what they figure the general public
would say, squashing the hope that a song like Vascular Symphony’s “Rodak”
would ever see the light of day. Never
mind that the song’s intro alone can hook anyone in for the whole space ride. I
guess the song itself doesn’t count, right? Maybe some backup dancers would
help? Maybe. If the backup dancers looked like gorillas wearing blonde wigs.
I don’t think that
Vascular Symphony, comprised of Philip
T. Lacinak and Theodore Sharpless,
really give a crap what record execs or the general public think. If
they did, their new release, Japanese Riot, would sound like 99% of the
crap in the top 40 today. Rest assured, it doesn’t. So thank the deity of your
choice that home recording and independent releases have become the way to go
for bands that don’t compromise!
If you’re not familiar
with Rodak or Dr. Gori, who cares (however, a search on “Commander of Conquest
Earth” may yield an interesting pre-Vascular Symphony precursor)? Look it up
later if it means that much to you. What you should be focusing on here is VS’s
in your face sound and Japanese sci-fi geek-friendly lyrics!
Japanese Riot starts off with a seemingly simple rhythm line that
quickly adds a sinister voice and transforms into a tractor beam that pulls you
all the way into the mosh pit-flavored center of “Rodak”.
Philip T. Lacinak: lead vocals, percussion
As soon as the next track,
“Space Elevator” hits, you’re going to notice that this is a very bass-heavy offering
so far. And you’ll be right. Theodore
is one of those few proud bass players that let the bass guitar be the center
instrument in the band, rather than blend into the background. We need more of
these guys. In fact, those of you who
pay attention may be surprised at just how much the bass fills up the majority
of the quite full-sounding VS sound. You may question if Vascular Symphony
really is only 2 guys. Yes, it is! The trick is that it’s 2 very talented
guys.
That talent is evident by
the contrast between the tracks “Dr. Gori” and “Mastermind” and their equality
on different levels. “Dr. Gori” sounds like a simple enough song, until you
can’t stop singing “Hey Dr. Gori what’s your story? Hey Dr. Gori don’t you
worry!” for the rest of the day. “Mastermind”, on the other hand, had me
listening to see if I could determine how many unique sounds there were in the
song and which ones were were live and which ones were programmed. I gave up
and just listened because it’s a cool fucking song; which is all that really
counts anyway, right?
The standout song for me,
however, is “Insults of Rodak”. A song
where you’d swear Phil is inviting you to sing along, and that’ll have you
playing air guitar… to a BASS! Never thought you’d do that, did you?!
Theodore Sharpless: programming, bass guitar, backing vocals
So, are the record execs
right in deciding for you that you should be listening to their
fresh-of-the-assembly-line bands, or are you going to support the true artists
of the future?
Check them out at: Vascular Symphony
